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The Life of the Party was not Andrei Kirilenko, but the AK-47

As noted in my post yesterday, it was the president of CSKA, Andrei Vatutin, that brought the AK-47 to the press conference.

We saw Andrei Kirilenko holding the AK-47 while it was pointed in Victor Khryapa’s direction, but not only did we have Khryapa later taking his turn…

…the entire team took its turn. In short, the AK-47 was the life of the party.

Little known fact about the two [North] American players on the team, Sammy Mejia (DePaul) and Jamont Gordon (Mississippi State): They left the U.S. to escape that weapons prude David Stern’s heavyhanded, authoritarian suppression of firearms–automatic or otherwise–in locker rooms.

Maybe I’ve got it all wrong. Maybe in Russia, AK-47s are standard issue along with uniforms, practice gear, and socks. Jerry Sloan and Karl Malone would approve.

Oh, and did I mention that Masha got in on the action too?

P.S. Speaking of Masha, kinda cute how she was there taking pictures of AK during his photo shoot:

The first photo looks like the poster to a magnificently silly buddy-spy spoof.

And I can picture Masha in a spy thriller too. She’ll be in a tight pinch, cornered with someone she doesn’t know if she can trust. That someone will run out of bullets but also have the only angle for a shot. Masha will scowl, fondle her gun a bit, then sigh: